Process for the manufacture of a looped yarn and apparatus therefor



May 27, 1969 R. M. NALPAS 3,445,994 PROCESS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF A LOOPED YARN AND APPARATUS THEREFOR Filed June 12, 1967 Sheet 012 FIGJ INVENTOR RAOUL MICHEL NALPAS ATTORNEYS May 27,1969

R. M. NALPAS 3, PROCESS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF A LOOPBD YARN AND APPARATUS THEREFOR Filed June 12, 1967 Sheet 4? of2 FIGZ INVENTOR RAOUL MICHEL NALPAS ATTORNEYS United States Patent 65 3 Int. Cl. D02g 3/36; l )01h 7/02; D07b 3/02 US. C]. 57-12 7 Claims assignor Chavanoz,

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A method of producing a looped yard wherein at least one effect yarn is overfed relative to a core yarn and is combined with said core yarn by means of a falsetwisting spindle and the assembly is covered by winding with a binding yarn before the false twist disappears. An apparatus for producing such a looped yarn comprising feed bobbins for a core and effect yarn, means to tension said core yarn and means to overfeed said effect yarn in relation to said core yarn, a false twisting spindle comprising a revolving tube with a twist locking means to false twist a combined core and effect yarn system and means to bind said combined core and effect yarn system with a binding yarn before the false twisting has disappeared.

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for producing a looped yarn, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for producing a looped yarn wherein a false-twist is created in a combined core and effect yarn system.

It has been known to manufacture a looped yarn by combining two textile yarns of which one, called the effect yarn, is strongly overfed relative to the other which forms the core yarn, and by subsequently wrapping round a yarn called a binding yarn which fixes the loops resulting from the overfeed of the effect yarn. Two different processes have been particularly used.

According to a first method, a twist is given to the two yarns and they are then bound, for example in a hollow spindle; according to the other method a core yarn is wrapped with an overfed effect yarn by means of a hollow spindle and the binding is accomplished by passing the assembly through a second hollow spindle.

While such prior art methods of producing looped yarns have been generally satisfactory in producing a conventional looped yarn, such processes have not been capable of producing a stronger, more esthetic looped yarn as now required for many purposes.

It has now been discovered in accordance with the present invention that it is possible to produce a new and improved looped yarn by applying a false-twisting thereto.

According to the present invention at least one core yarn is combined, by means of a false twisting spindle, with at least one effect yarn which is overfed relative to the core yarn, and the assembly is covered by winding with a binding yarn before the false twist disappears.

Also included within the scope of the present invention is an apparatus for producing such a new and improved looped yarn which comprises as a principal element thereof a false-twisting spindle to create a false-twisting in an assembly of at least one effect yarn overfed relative to at least one core yarn.

It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to provide a novel method and apparatus for producing a new and improved looped yarn.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a method wherein a false-twisting is created in an effect yarn-core yarn assembly, wherein the effect yarn is greatly overfed in relation to the core yarn.

Still a further object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for producing a new and improved looped yarn wherein a principal element comprises a false-twisting spindle to create a false-twisting in an assembly of at least one effect yarn overfed relative to at least one core yarn.

Still further objects and advantages of the process and apparatus of the present invention will become more apparent from the following more detailed description of the present invention and the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a schematic representation of the apparatus of the present invention; and

FIGURE 2 is an enlargement of that portion of the apparatus showing the false-twisting element of the pres ent invention.

The process or method of the present invention comprises the manufacturing of fancy yarns of the loop-type by combining, by means of a false-twisting spindle, at least one core yarn with at least one effect yarn which is overfed relative to the core yarn, and covering of the effect yarn-core yarn assembly by winding it with a binding yarn before the false-twist has disappeared.

As used throughout the description of the present invention and in the claims, the term yarn is intended to embrace all natural, artificial, synthetic, metallic or glass yarns which are conventionally used to produce looped products and which can be employed in the production of the new and improved looped yarns in the process of the present invention. Suitable materials include, for example, wool, cotton, similar regenerated cellulose products, rayon, silk, polyester fibers poly ethylene terephthalate, polymers such as polypropylene, polyethylene, etc. polyamides (e.g. nylon), fibers of aluminum and similar metals and fibers of glass, etc.

By the process of the present invention, at least one core yarn and at least one effect yarn overfed relative to the core yarn are combined by means of a false-twisting spindle so as to create a false-twisted core yarn-effect yarn assembly. The effect yarn-core yarn assembly is covered by winding it with a binding yarn before the false-twist has disappeared. In general, the overfeed of the effect yarn to the core yarn can vary over wide limits although the best results have been achieved with an overfeed of from about 40% to about 300% in linear speed. It is of course, obvious that lesser or greater amounts of overfeed can be advantageously employed where desired.

In accordance with the present invention it is possible to obtain many yaried loop yarns because of the great variety of yarns that can suitably be employed.

Preferably, the core yarn and, generally, the effect yarn consist of yarns of a discontinuous natural, artificial or synthetic fiber or filament. In this case, there is very little likelihood or risk that the loops will be displaced by rubbing, especially when the loop yarn is used for knitting. For example, wool or viscose spun yarns are found to be particularly suitable for use as the core or effect yarn in the process of the present invention.

Synthetic fibers, e.g. polyamides, polyesters, etc, are especially useful for the binding yarn, particularly to act as a reinforcement for the loop yarn. While the binding yarn is preferably a fine yarn, fancy yarns such as metalized strips or glass fiber yarns can also be conveniently employed.

By the advantageous employment of different yarns in the loop yarn comprising a core yarn-effect yarn-binding yarn assembly, it is possible to obtain a loop yarn having greatly varying properties: color, degree of shrinkage, strength, etc. Additionally, combined effects can be obtained by the employment of fancy yarns or textured yarns as the core and/or effect yarn. Moreover, such combined effect can be further brought out by the employment of more than one core and/ or effect yarn so as to obtain the advantageous properties and esthetic effect of a multitude of materials.

The present invention also comprises an apparatus for the production of a looped yarn in accordance with the process of the present invention. In such apparatus, two ends of textile yarns, of which one is greatly overfed, converge towards a separator guide and are jointly subjected to a false twist by means of a rotating tube, preferably provided with a means for locking-in the false twist which propagates in a forward direction only within the assembly since the separator guide behind it prevents its traveling back. The temporarily twisted assembly is covered by a binding yarn while passing through a hollow spindle with subsequent winding upon a collecting spool.

The apparatus of the present invention will now be further described by reference to FIGURES 1 and 2. In such figures, like numerals represent like elements throughout.

In FIGURES 1 and 2, a bobbin creel 1 carries a pair of bobbins 3 and 5 which supply the core yarn 7 and the effect yarn 9. The core yarn 7 passes through a tensioning means 11, for example of the disk type, and thereafter directly passes to the separator guide 13. The effect yarn 9 passes through a guide 15 or a tensioning means which at most gives it a low tension, and is thereafter taken up on a feed means comprising a controlled output unit 17 combined with a pressure cylinder 19 which ensures sufficient overfeed of the effect yarn 9 while the core yarn 7 is drawn off at a rate which depends on the speed of the collecting bobbin 47.

The effect yarn 9 delivered by the controlled output unit 17 converges towards the separator guide 13. The separator guide may comprise a single or multiple arms. In the present example this guide comprises two parallel arms 13A and 13B on a support arm 13C which is also parallel to the former. The purpose of the separator guide is to restrict the return movement of the twist produced by the false twist rotating spindle 21 described below. This effect is illustrated in detail in FIGURE 2.

The combined core yarn-effect yarn assembly passes through a guide 19 and then into the false-twist spindle 21. The latter consists of a hollow axle 23 with a driving wharve 25, and is topped by a tip piece 27 which is simply sleeved on to the axle 23. This tip piece 27 is provided with a lateral hook 29 which serves to lock in the twist. The core yarn-effect yarn assembly passes through the hook 29 and then travels through the tip piece 27 and the axle 23 in a downward direction.

The system described can obviously be replaced by any other conventional false-twist device provided with a suitable locking means. The system described makes it easily and temporarily possible to convert existing uptwisters by simply providing the axles of the upper level with a tip piece such as that represented in the figures.

The false-twist travels forward in the core yarn-effect yarn assembly in the absence of any stop.

The core yarn-effect yarn assembly then travels through the hollow spindle 31 with driving wharve 33, carrying a bobbin 35 of the binding yarn 37. The binding yarn 37 is unwound by means of spindle cap 39 and proceeds to wrap itself round the core yarn-effect yarn. The resulting loop yarn passes through the axle 31, on to a guide roller 41, and is wound up on the collecting bobbin 47 driven by the controlled roller 43, the bobbin system being reciprocated by the guide 45.

The following examples illustrate the process and apparatus of the present invention. It is to be understood that such examples are for purposes of illustration only 4 and the present invention is in no way to be deemed as limited thereto.

Example 1 A wool core yarn Nm 1/ 40 (250 decitex) is combined, by means of the apparatus shown in FIGURE 1, with a similar wool effect yarn, with 50% overfeed of the latter, and the core yarn-effect yarn assembly is bound by winding with a polyhexamethylene adipamide yarn (polyamide 66) of 70 deniers/23 strands twisted at 20 turns per meter (t./m.) in the Z (righthand) direction. This latter yarn represents 11% of the total weight of the looped yarn.

The draw-off speed of the spool is 10 meters per minute. The upper spindle, whose tip piece imparts the falsetwist, revolves at 9000 revolutions per minute, corresponding to 900 turns of false-twist per meter. The lower spindle revolves at 3000 to 6000 revolutions per minute depending on the binding twists.

By employing the process and apparatus of the present invention, the binding is achieved at a time when a falsetwist remains in the core yarn-effect yarn assembly so to produce an excellent loop yarn product having the advantageous properties of strength and esthetic characteristics.

Example 2 The process of Example 1 was repeated except that a viscose spun yarn Nm l/40, overfed by was used as the effect yarn. Here again, an excellent looped yarn was produced.

Example 3 The process of Example 1 was again repeated, the core yarn being a 75 deniers (82.5 decitex) rayon yarn with the effect yarn, which is overfed by being a viscose spun yarn Nm l/40. Here, again, an excellent looped yarn was produced.

Example 4 A polyamide 66 core yarn which had been textured by false twist, called stretch yarn, of 70 deniers/23 strands, was combined with a Nm 1/40 effect yarn 0f polyamide 66 fibers of 3 deniers and 40 mm. length, using 50% overfeed in accordance with the process of EX- ample 1. The assembly was bound with a 15 deniers polyamide 66 monofilament. The shrinkage of the core yarn was superimposed on the loop effect. Again an excellent looped yarn was produced.

Example 5 The process of Example 1 was again followed, combining a Nm l/40 wool core yarn with a similar effect yarn overfed by The core yarn-effect yarn was bound by a metallized polyethylene terephthalate textile strip 1 mm. wide. Again, an excellent looped yarn was produced.

Example 6 A white Nm 1/40 core yarn of 1.5 denier/25 mm. viscose spun yarn Was combined with a Nm 1/ 40 effect yarn which is similar but dyed blue and overfed by 250% The assembly was bound with a 70 deniers/23 strands polyamide 66 yarn dyed red. Here, again, an excellent, extremely esthetic looped yarn was produced.

While certain embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated by way of specific examples, it is to be understood that the present invention is in no Way to be deemed as limited thereto but should be construed as broadly as all or any equivalents thereof.

What is desired to be protected by Letters Patent is:

1. In a process for producing a loop yarn wherein at least one effect yarn is overfed relative to at least one core yarn, the improvement which consists essentially of creating a false-twist in a core yarn-effect yarn assembly and covering said core yarn-effect yarn assembly With a binding yarn before said false-twist disappears.

2. The process of claim 1, wherein said eflect yarn is overfed relative to said core yarn by 40% to 300%.

3. Apparatus for producing looped yarns consisting essentially of: means for feeding at least one core yarn and at least one efifect yarn, overfed in relation to said core yarn; means for guiding said yarns to a false-twisting means; a false-twisting means to combine and falsetwist said core and effect yarns; means to cover the falsetwisted combined core and effect yarns with a binding yarn; and means for collecting said covered combined core and eifect yarns.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said falsetwisting means comprises a rotating tube.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said false-twist- References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,254,738 1/1918 Stevens et a1 5712 XR 1,801,388 4/1931 Ruf 57l2 XR 1,874,502 8/1932 Green 57l2 2,309,095 1/1943 Bry 57160 2,131,893 10/1938 Jessen 57160 3,303,640 2/1967 Reid et a1. 57l2 3,309,863 3/1967 Hermes 57163 STANLEY N. GILREATH, Primary Examiner. W. H. SCHROEDER, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 

